Bread-forming machine.



4.. 0 9 l 4 v mL C 0 D E T N E T A P.

C. A. MEURELL. BREAD FORMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1904.

llllllllllll N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented October 4, 1904.

.PATENT UFFICI-3.

BREAD-FORIVIING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,560, dated October4, 1904.

Application filed May 5, 1904. Serial No. 206,503. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concer-71,.-

Be it known that I, CARL AUGUST ME'URELL, a subject of the King ofSweden and Norway, residing at Salter, Sweden, (whose post-ofhce addressis Sater, Sweden,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBread- Forming Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to a machine designed forvuse in themanufacture of bread, and more particularly to the manufacture of whatis known as Swedish health bread, which is made in the form of thincakes, the dough being spread out in a thin layer upon atlour-dustedsupport and then dusted over with iiour, pricked, cut intocakes, the excess of flour previously dusted or scattered thereonremoved and baked.

In the manufacture of this particular kind of bread the proportions ofwater and flour or meal are of importance, as the greater the proportionof water within certain limits the crisper the bread. Hence the doughwhen made up is comparatively thin andverydicult to roll out into a thincake of as nearly uniform thickness as possible, and this as well as theother operations above referred to have before my invention beeneffected by hand, involving a great deal of patient labor and time.

The means for spreading the dough into a thin layer of as nearly auniform thickness as possible, the means for pricking the layer ofdough, and the means for slicing or cutting up said layer into cakes ofsuitable or.desir able size for handling and packing, and even the meansfor removing the superfluous flour sprinkled on the layer of dough whilebeing spread out may be combined in onemachine in bakeries where theoutput is-suiiiciently large to admit of the use of a table of sufcientdimensions to provide the necessary space for the application of thevarious appliances.

Where the output is small, it will be preferable to use separateapparatuses for performing the functions above referred to.

This invention relates more particularly to means for spreading thedough onto a table in a thin layer of substantially uniform thicknessand at the same time sprinkling or dusting said layer with iiour on bothsides for a well-known purpose, the appliances for pricking and cuttingthe layer of dough and the appliances for removing the superliuous floursprinkled thereon forming subject-matter for separate applications forpatent tiled of even date herewith.

I desire it to be understood that I do not limit the use of my inventionto the manufacture of bread such as hereinabove referred to, as it isobvious that it may be used for the manufacture of various kinds ofbaked wares prepared with the flour of cereals.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical transverse sectionof a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional end view ofthe dough feeding and distributing device, showing part of thereceiving- Ytable also in section; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectionon the line A B of Fig. 1, the receiving-table being broken away.

As shown in Fig. 3, the receiving-table a is preferably of annularuformand is mounted on .rollers b, supported in any suitable inanner, saidtable having a downwardly-projecting toothed iange, which in practice isgeared to a driving-gear, (not shown,) though the table may, if acomparatively small one is used, be rotated by hand. Above the table akare suspended in any suitable manner, as from beams b, the dough feederand distributer and on either side thereof` a'iiour-receptaclecontaining means for sprinkling' Hour onto the table and onto the doughthereon.

The dough feeder and distributer consists of a trunk or hollow column ofoblong form in cross-section, its greater diameter being less than thewidth of the table a, and is provided at its lower end with alaterally-projecting delivery-nozzle e, whose internal crosssectionalarea from the inlet to the koutlet is gradually reduced, as shown inFig. l, and at the outlet of the nozzle is arranged a valve or IOO gatef for regulating the feed of the dough to the table a.

ln feeding dough of the kind hereinabove referred to through a channelof oblong form 'in cross-section 1 have found that the speed at whichthe doug'h Hows from the longitudinal center of the nozzle-outlet isgreater than at the opposite ends of said outlet, and to avoid this 1construct the valve or gate f with a convex cutoff face j", as shown in'Fig. 2, so that the area of the outlet of the nozzleis graduallycontracted from its opposite ends to the center, as shown in said Fig.2.

The valve or gatef is arranged to slide in cleats g and may be held inits adjusted position by frictional contact only.

At its upper end the feedtrunk Z is enlarged into a dough-receivinghopper e, and in practice the trunk (Z is from about [ifteen to twentytimes longer thanl its smaller internal crosssectional area, so that theweight of the column of dough in the trunk is sufficient to force suchdough through the comparatively narrow' outlet of the delivery-nozzle aat the desired speed. This is of importance, since it obviates thenecessity of supplying large masses of dough to the trunk in order toproduce the proper pressure, which would result in overrising of theydough by reason of the time required to form it into thin layers forthe oven.

As the dough flows from the nozzle under its own weight, this isgradually reduced, and in order to maintain it under suflicient pressureto cause it to How from the nozzle at a suitable rate of speed I makeuse of a piston ZZ, by vmeans of which substantially all of the doughremaining in the trunk can be expelled after the weight of the doughbecomes insuliicient to force it out of the nozzle e at the desired rateof speed.

On either side of the dough-feeder Z is arranged a Hour-receptacle Zr:and '21, respectively, whose inlets are bomber-shaped and whose outletsare enlarged laterally, these receptacles being, like the dough-feeder,of oblong` form in cross-section, as clearly shown in Fig'. 3, and ineach receptacle near its outlet is a1'- ranged a roller Z, provided withcup-shaped recesses 71., said roller rotating in contact with one wallof the receptacle and with a cleat 111 said wall and cleat formingabutments which prevent the flour above the roller from passing betweenthe roller and the walls of the receptacles, so that only the flourcontained in the cups n is carried below the roller, thus regulating thedelivery of such iiour.

Between each roller Zand on the delivery side thereof is arranged arevoluble brush o, which scatters the flour. The brush in receptacle Zscatters the flour over the table a and the brush in receptacle Z:scatters the flour over the sheet of dough on said table.

As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the receptacles and Zt' are also of oblongform in cross-section, their major internal diameter being slightlygreater than the like diameter of the trunk cZ, while the minor internaldiameter increases gradually from the throat below the feed-hopperthereof to their lower open end to prevent the packing' of the Hour andfacilitate its downward movement to the deliveryrolls Z, thus avoidingthe use of stirring appliances and at the same time providing amplespace below said rollers for scattering the flour. l

Each of the spindles of the rollers Z is provided with a driving-pulleyg, and each of the spindles of the brushes o is provided with adriving-pulley p, which pulleys are driven from any suitable drivingmechanism.

It will be observed that one of the Hourreeeptaclcs, z' or Zn, may bedispensed with, if desired, asjliour may be sprinkled on the table abefore the gate or valve f is set or before the dough is introduced intothe trunk or column (Z, which of course would involve a completerevolution of said table. 1n bakeries where the output is very large andthe table (Z of considerable diameter this would result in considerableloss of time, and to obviate this I make use of the two receptacles Zand Z'; and the flour-sprinkling devices therein, as from theirarrangement it will readily be seen that if the table rotates in thedirection of arrow, Fig. 2, the distance the table has to travel fromreceptacle to nozzle e is very short.

From the description of the construction of the apparatus its operationwill be readily understood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination with an annular rotatable table, of adough-receptacle above the same and consisting of avertical hollow trunkof oblong' form in cross-section the major internal diameter of whichtrunk is less than the width of said table, said trunk provided with adelivery-nozzle having a contracted outlet of substantially the sameinternal diameter as the said major diameter of the trunk,

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and means acting' on the surface of the doug'h in the trunk to force itthrough said nozzle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of an annular rotatable table, means to feed doughthereto in the form of a sheet of nearly the same width as the table,means to sprinkle iiour onto said table and means to simultaneouslysprinkle flour onto the sheet of 'dough fed to the table, for thepurpose set forth.

3. The combination with an annular rotatable table and adouglrreceptacle consisting of a hollow trunk or column of oblong formin cross-section, the major internal diameter of which trunk is lessthan the width of said tablc, said trunk provided with a delivery-nozzlehaving a contracted outlet of substantially diameter of the trunk andarranged trans-4 versely of and above the table; of means to sprinkleflour onto said table and onto the sheet of dough formed thereon, forthe purpose set forth.

4. The combination with an annular rotatable table and adough-receptacle consisting of a hollow trunk or column of oblong formin cross-section, the major internal diameter of which trunk is lessthan the width of said table, said trunk provided with a delivery-nozzlehaving a contracted outlet of substantially the same internal diameteras the said major diameter of the trunk and arranged transversely of andabove the table; of means to sprinkle flour onto said table and means tosimultaneously sprinkle flour onto the sheet of dough formed thereon,for the purposes set fort 5. rIhe combination with an annular rotatabletable and a dough-receptacle consisting of a hollow trunk or column ofoblong form in cross-section, the major internal diameter of which trunkis less than the width of said table, said trunk provided with adelivery-nozzle having a contracted outlet of substantially the sameinternal diameter as the said major diameter of the trunk and arrangedtransversely of and above the table; of a Hour-receptacle open at itslower end and provided near said end with means to feed the flour intosaid end and with means to scatter the flour ontol the aforesaid table,for the purpose set fort i.

6. The combination with an annular rotatable table and adough-receptacle consisting of a hollow trunk or column of oblong f ormin cross-section, the major internal diameter of which trunk isless'than the width of said table, said trunk provided with adelivery-nozzle having a contracted outlet of substantially the sameinternal diameter as the said major diameter of the trunk and arrangedtransversely of and above the table; of a flour-receptacle on eitherside of the aforesaid trunk, said receptacles of oblong form incross-section the major internal diameter of the receptacles beinggreater than the like diameter of said trunk, each of said receptaclesprovided in and near their loweropen ends with a delivery-roller havingperipheral recesses for the iiour, said roller revoluble in contact withabutments and a revoluble brush on the delivery side of and below saidroller, for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination with an annular revoluble table, means to feed doughthereto in the form of a sheet of a width less than that of said table;of an open-ended iiour-receptacle on either side of said dough-feeder,said receptacles of oblong form in cross-section the major diameter ofwhich receptacles being greater than the width of the sheet of dough fedto the table while the minor diameter of said receptacles increases fromnear their upper to their lower ends, a revoluble feed-roller in each ofsaid receptacles rotating in contact with abutments and havingperipheral recesses for the flour, and a rotatable brush on the deliveryside of and below each of said rollers, for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination with the delivery-nozzle, e, of the dough-feeder; ofa gate f, having a convex under face, said gate adjustable to regulatethe thickness of the sheet of dough issuing from said nozzle,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. The combination with an annular rotatable table, of adough-receptacleabove the same and consisting of avertical hollow trunk of oblong formin cross-section, the major internal diameter of which trunk is lessthan the width of said table, said trunk provided with a delivery-nozzlehaving a contracted outlet of substantially the same internal diameteras the said major diameter of the trunk, and a follower or piston actingon the body of dough in the trunk to force it through the nozzle,substantially as and for the'purpose set forth.

10. The combination with an annular rotatable table, of adough-receptacle above the same and consisting of a vertical hollowtrunk of oblong form in cross-section, the major internal diameter ofwhich trunk is less than the width of said table, said trunk providedwith a delivery-nozzle having a contracted outlet of substantially thesame internal diameter as the said major diameter of the trunk, and acutoif valve or gate f, movable in front of the nozzle-outlet and havinga convex cut-off face f', substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

1l. The combination with a rotatable table and means to feed doughthereto in the form of asheet, of a Hour-receptacle above the tablecomprising a hollow open-ended trunk arranged with its lower end closeto said table and means in the lower part of the trunk to feed flour toits lower end and means to scatter the flour in said lower end of thetrunk, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention l have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL AUGUST MEURELL.

W'itnesses:

L. KALLENBERG, HARRY FR. ALBIHN.

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